Fan Fiction ❯ Runaway ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

In a fit of boredom, Taylor Hanson left the "living room" of the tour bus and moved up front to talk to their driver, Paul.

"Hey Paul, anything interesting out there?"

"Nope. Just open country road. Haven't so much as passed or been passed by a car in hours."

"How... boring." Taylor commented dryly.

"Sure, I guess so." Paul said with a laugh. "How come you're up here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Oh, Zac and Ike are involved with some video game, and I was sick of watching, so I decided to come up here to talk to you and watch the road."

Paul nodded in understanding, and for the next half-hour, the two talked of various things.

Just as Taylor was standing up from the seat he had taken, the bus reached the crest of a hill.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That, at the bottom of the hill?" Taylor said, pointing towards the bottom of the impossibly tall hill.

"Probably a stalled car."

"It looks like the owner is stuck outside in the rain." Taylor said as he watched the stranded girl pull her arms tighter around herself.

"Looks like a girl to me too. You can pretty much see she's stalled in the middle of Minnesota."

"Yeah, and not one in a tee-shirt either." Taylor said, and noted to himself in a flash of hormones, that the t-shirt was white.

Paul glanced at Taylor and knew right away what he was thinking. Paul looked away with a grin.

"Should we stop? It's up to you." Paul offered.

"Yes. Stop. We should defiantly stop. She looks really cold... and sick." Taylor added as he saw her put her hand to her forehead and bend her head in pain.

Paul pulled the bus to a stop so that the door was right in front of the girl. When the door was opened, Taylor stepped down in front of the girl. The girl looked up at him with feverish eyes. He saw a flash of recognition, and then her eyes rolled up into her head and she began to collapse.

Moving quickly, Taylor was able to catch the girl, and found her to be impossibly light. As he picked her up to bring her onto the bus, he could not ignore the feeling of skin and bones. It was if this girl had not eaten in weeks.

"Is she all right?" Paul asked worriedly.

"I don't think so. I think she has a fever, and it looks as if she is half starved."

"Then she's probably a run away." Paul said matter-of-factly.

"It doesn't matter. Call a tow truck to bring her car to the nearest auto shop. We'll figure out what to do then."

Paul nodded, and picked up the cell phone by his seat, and dialed information.

Taylor, still carrying his light burden, began to move though the aisle towards "bedrooms". As he passed through the living room, he passed his brothers, ignoring their questions, and placed the girl on one of the unused bunks.

"Okay Tay, what's going on here?" Isaac demanding in his older-than-thou commanding voice.

"She was stranded on the side of the road. I guess her car stalled and she locked her keys in her car. Paul is calling a tow truck to bring her car to the nearest auto shop." Taylor said as he put his gentle hand on her forehead.

"What are we going to do about her from there?" Zac asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess if her car can be fixed, we'll just send her on her way."

"She's a stick. It looks like she hasn't eaten in days." Isaac commented.

"Yeah, I know. She feels like skin and bones. Paul thinks she's a run away."

Zac shrunk back a bit.

"Hey, Zaccy, she's harmless right now." Taylor said in a teasing tone with a grin.

"Yeah, well, you never know. She might be a murderer or something!"

"I highly doubt it Zac. She's too, nice looking." Isaac said.

Taylor looked back at the girl. It was true. She was not only nice looking; she was beautiful. All of her features fitted nicely together, and though he had no idea what color her hair was, since it was underneath a hat, he had noticed that her eyes were a deep ocean blue.

Isaac and Zac looked at each other behind Taylor and shared a knowing grin. With a duel-amused shake of the head, the two left to finish their game, leaving Taylor with the girl.